A Certain Random Divergence
by willdraco1987
Summary: At the age of twelve, Touma Kamijou's bad luck has him run into one of Academy City's Board of Directors, who is interested in how the boy's power, the Imagine Breaker works and offers him a job to study it. Touma/Harem
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : Hey everybody and welcome to my new work. It's something that I've been wanting to write for ages but haven't really had a good time getting into the zone. The Index/Railgun series is probably my most favourite series so I hope you all enjoy my attempt at it.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own A Certain Magical Index or anything else that may cross**

**-ACRD-**

**Chapter 1: A New Illusion - Director's_PATH**

Science, something that has been around in one form or another for many many years. From the earliest times on inventing a Stone Wheel, Science has been apart of the human world since humans first evolved (those that of course believe humans evolved anyway.) Every year it expands, new knowledge brings new technology which further enriches the power of Science. Hence why the greatest minds in the world (or so it seemed) saw fit to create a city. A sprawling metropolis in what was considered one of the most technologically advanced Countries in the world, Japan. This city was given a name, mostly after the primary vocation of most that lived there. Hosting 2.3 million students, the city was donned a fitting name. Academy City; The City of Science.

"Such misfortune," a lamenting voice grumbled.

Walking out from a convenience store, a boy looking to be around twelve years old sighed dejectedly as he stared down at a plastic bag in his hands. He was dressed in a white buttoned up shirt and black pants, he looked rather ordinary but his black hair was spiked in a way that made him look like ahe stepped out of a Manga. The reason for his dejection was simple, the convenience store he had just exited had sold out of the meat they had on sale, meaning that all he had for dinner tonight were vegetables, Tofu, eggs, and Miso Stock.

'Not the end of the world, but I kinda wanted meat,' with a bitter thought, the boy started to walk again.

He was far too used to these things happening, after all, no body had worse luck then Touma Kamijou. A normal day for him held at least five unfortunate mishaps. A really bad day maxed out at fifteen, Today on the other hand he only had to suffer this one, which made him guarded, because if he was having a reasonably lucky day, that meant something big was going to happen, and it wouldn't be good.

After tensely walking for five minuets he came upon the mouth of an alley, it was one he normally took as his dorm was on the other side. Normally he wouldn't have a problem going through the alley but tonight he was sorely tempted to just take the long way around.

"I know what's gonna happen, I'm gonna take the alley and then get jumped and mugged." Not that the muggers would get much considering his financial situation.

Deciding discretion to be the better part of valour, Touma decided to take the long way around.

_Fwhoosshh_

However the split-second hesitation that he might not have had during another time caused him to see a light flare up from the alley, cursing his luck he decided to go down the alley to see if anyone needed help.

The alley itself wasn't anything peculiar. It was made up of a wall to a building on one side, and a horse-shoe shaped building on the other, meaning that at the centre of the alley was an alcove of a reasonable size, it was in said alcove that the light Touma saw originated. Approaching the alcove as silently as possible, he peered around the corner and his eyes widened.

Standing near the opposing wall of the alcove was an elderly man, sliver-grey hair was spiked back with a similarly coloured trimmed goatee and moustache. He was dressed in a black and grey vine patterned vest and a dark blue buttoned shirt with a vibrant orange and red tie. His pants were black dress pants though weirdly he had bright green sneakers on his feet. In his right hand he gripped a black coloured cane, over his body he was wearing a white lab coat.

"So, this is your response?" The man's voice was light as he regarded the second person in the alcove

In the middle of the alcove was a young man around eighteen. He had short red hair and was wearing what looked like a black high collared school uniform. Touma couldn't see his face, but in his left hand was a lit flip lighter.

"You screwed my plans over old man, I'm not about to take that lightly," the younger man growled holding up his right hand.

Almost immediately, the flickering flame from the lighter was pulled by an unseen force to float above the man's right palm, forming into a ball of flame.

"Pyrokinesis," Touma whispered to himself.

One of the things that set Academy City apart from the rest of the world wasn't just that it was twenty years ahead of the world in terms of Scientific advancement, but also what they are currently experimenting on. Esper Powers, or Abilities were the main concentration of development in Academy City, all of the students undergo a process called the Power Curriculum Program, a Program designed to foster the development of Abilities or as they've come to be known Esper Powers, and those that wield these powers are called Eper's.

"My dear boy, I honestly can say that I wasn't expecting you to actual have the resources and clout to find out that it was my group that stopped your plans" the older man spoke in a serious tone. "Honestly, conducting a weapons deal? Even more so it was a group of Esper's arming Skill-Out."

"You should'a just butted out of it geezer, now I've gotta tune you up to send a message."

Touma watch the scene, debating what to do, he wanted to help the old man, who seemed to have nothing to protect himself, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. Taking a step into the open, his bad luck suddenly decided it needed to show itself as his foot struck a can he was sure wasn't there a second ago, causing the empty aluminium drink container to bounce forward, the tinny sound of of each strike on concrete causing a silence to befall the alcove before the younger man turn on his heel and glared at the unwelcome new-comer.

"Shit, a witness." The man's face was crumpled into a scowl as he grunted with annoyance. "Sorry 'bout this kid but you walked inta the wrong alley."

Without awaiting a response, the man tossed the fireball a Touma. As the ball left his hand, it rocketed towards Touma with substantial speed, not having enough time to do much else, the unfortunate boy tossed aside his grocery bag and held his right hand up towards the ball.

"Such Misfortune," he called out as the ball struck his hand.

However, instead of severely injuring the spiky haired boy, the sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the alcove and the fireball seemed to vaporise.

"What the hell?" The younger man was confused, that shouldn't have happened.

"Interesting," the older man whispered, stroking his goatee. "Such an unusual sight, I must thank you for allowing me to witness it, but I am afraid it's time to end this."

As the old man said this, a shadow dropped down from one of the lower windows behind the man, before darting forward.

Taking his eyes off the brat that somehow shook off his fireball, the younger man turned and tossed another fireball at the newcomer who in response flicked a glowing round object at the fireball. Upon the two colliding, an explosion lit the area and the fire user had to squint his eyes. He never noticed the figure draw even with him and pulled out a short metal rod which extended into a metre and a half long staff. The figure flipped into around his their hands before thrusting it into the fire user's gut. In an instant, the man was launched by an unforeseen concussive force into the side wall of the alcove, falling to the ground unconscious.

Flipping the staff around again in a rather needless fanfare, the staff shrunk back to it's unassuming thirty centimetre size. Touma was able to finally get a good look at the figure.

It was a boy, roughly around Touma's age, he had shaggy, wispy black air that fell haphazardly around his face, he was dressed similar as well, a button up white shirt and black pants, but that really wasn't surprising, many schools had a similar dress code for their male students. His pale grey eyes quirked curiously as he regarded Touma, stowing the shrunken metal staff into a holder on his waist.

"Sorry to involve you in that scuffle lad," the old man spoke up, approaching Touma. "He was someone who we had a prior... disagreement with."

"Err, okay," Touma wasn't sure what to say. "I'm just glad no-one was hurt, sorry to randomly show up though."

"Think nothing of it my boy, I have to say though, that is an intriguing Ability you have there," the man grinned. "If I didn't know any better I would say negation but I know quiet a bit of what Abilities there are in the City and negation is such a one that wouldn't have slipped my notice."

Touma suddenly had the distinct feeling that this man was someone higher on the Academy City 'food chain' then he was used to dealing with.

"Oh, where are my manners, my name is Shuusuke Kuroyama, a scientist and one of Academy City's Board of Directors." The man's statement cause Touma's eyes to widen.

He was not expecting to meet someone who stood at the top of Academy City totem pole.

-ACRD-

Touma was, for lack of a better word, confused. One minute he was in an alleyway, finding out that the newest person he had come across was one of the people who ran Academy City. The next, he was sitting in a rather plain looking office. While the desk, computer, filing cabinets and several bookshelves were expected, Touma was sitting on a bluish grey couch in the centre of the room atop a black and purple spiral patterned circular rug. A solid, antique-looking wooden coffee table sat in front where the aforementioned Academy City bigwig placed down a cup of coffee in front of the pre-teen, motioning him to help himself as he sat down on a swivel chair in front of the desk. On the opposite side of the couch, closest to the exit, the other boy sat, sipping from the coffee poured for him.

Touma found the whole situation surreal.

"Just roll with it," the voice came from the boy as he placed his cup on the table, On the ride over he had introduced himself as Kazuki Shikihiro. "The Professor likes to act on his whims all the time."

"A little harsh there, but not without some measure of truth," the Professor chuckled. "So Touma, I'm sorry for bringing you here suddenly, but that Ability of yours has me curious."

That didn't surprise him, Touma was aware of how abnormal his hand was.

Ever since birth he had this power, and it was his belief that it was the reason life was hard for him. His bad luck had caused a lot of problems in the past, anybody in his home town would blame their luck on him and after one particular event, a drunken man beating him after he lost his job, his father had decided to send Touma to Academy City in hopes of determining what made Touma's luck bad. That was when he discovered the power held in his right hand, a power that could negate Abilities, and with that knowledge, Touma was convinced that it was also negating his luck. He explained as much to Kuroyama.

"It doesn't register on the testing machines either," Touma muttered out, finishing his explanation. "It's why I'm registered as a Level 0, the tester said that despite that I needed to name my Ability so I've taken to calling it [**Imagine Breaker].**"

"[**Imagine Breaker]** huh? A fitting name, a power that breaks the imaginary world Esper's create," the Professor grinned, referencing the separate reality that Esper's had to create in their minds to distort reality.

"That's what the tester said when I named it," Touma nodded.

"Such a peculiar power," Kuroyama sat in though for a moment, before grinning. "You mentioned you were a Level 0 right?"

"Yeah..." Touma really felt like bemoaning his lot in life, as he was sure it was his damned hand that prevented him from developing an Ability that might make him a higher Level. After all, the higher one's Level, the more of a stipend they received from Academy City.

"Well then, what would you say about working for me?" Kuroyama asked.

"Working for you?" Touma was confused.

"Ahh, I haven't explained what I research," the Professor realised. "You see Touma, I study a specific area about Ability's. That area is the study of the Abnormalities and Exceptions of Esper Power's."

"Abnormalities and Exceptions?" Touma asked, not understanding.

"You see in this city there is approximately nine hundred and twenty thousand students that have an Ability, what I study are two particular questions; One," he held up his right hands index finger. "Things like the reason why Level 0's can't develop an ability and why there is such a massive difference between Level 1's and 2's, and Level 3's and 4's. They are Abnormalities. The Professor paused. "Are you familiar with the seven strongest Ability users in Academy City?"

Touma nodded, the cream of the crop Academy City had to offer, the only seven students out of the 2.3 million students total who have reached the highest known Level Esper's can reach, Academy City's vaunted Seven Level 5 Espers.

"My research into Abnormalities also covers why there are massive gaps separating 7th, 6th, 5th and 4th Level 5's and why 3, 2 and 1 each hold their own separate level of power." Kuroyama paused for a moment. "Of course that's providing their own tests allow for it."

Touma understood that, he was aware that the higher your Level was, the more tests you had to go through. He'd imagine that the Level 5's didn't have much free time.

"Anyway, the second thing," Kuroyama held up a second finger. "Is studying those who have Abilities that far exceed any known science." he paused again. "Of course this one is a little harder because the top three Abilities that surpass Scientific reasoning are the Number's 1,2 and 7 Level 5's."

Okay, that wasn't one Touma could understand, he was under the impression that any Ability breaks the laws of Science. When he said as much to Kuroyama he nodded.

"Very true, with what we have done with the Power Curriculum Program, any normal person would say that any and all powers generated by the students break the rules of Science and Reality, the very two functions used to create an Esper's Reality; Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Schrodinger's Cat Thought Experiment are things that either prove we're ill equipped to study something or present us with an impossible to solve mechanic that seemingly has no right answer. However, a vast majority of Esper Power's have a fundamental Science that allows it to work."

"Think of it this way," Kazuki's voice drew Touma's attention. "My Ability; **[Kinetic Drive] **works on the principle of Kinetic Manipulation." He pulled of a plastic arcade token from his pocket and held it between his right index finger and thumb. "I lay my manipulated Reality over the token causing it to vibrate" he did so and the token started shaking in a manner not possible without machines. "In this state I can further manipulate it to vibrate hard enough to cut through metal, and just recently I've actual been able to overcome plastic integrity."

"And what happens to the token then?" Touma asked in curiosity.

"You saw it in a alley earlier, once some-thing's structural integrity is exceeded by my Ability, it glows red and explodes," Kazuki grinned.

"The red flash that took out that guys fireball," Touma spoke in realisation.

"Yep, but back to the topic. Despite the fact that every Esper Power in the City is on it's base value impossible, Science still dictates the mechanics in how we develop our Ability's." Kazuki finished explaining.

"What we study here are the few Abilities that exceed known science. Powers that should not be possible by any means." Kuroyama picked up.

"There are Power's like that?" Touma couldn't believe it.

"Indeed, take for instance the current Number 2 Level 5 **[Dark Matter.] **His power allows him to create over twenty thousand forms of energy, a portion of which do not exist in the world. So how then is he able to create a formula and calculation to bring into existence something that even he himself is not aware exists?" The question had Touma stumped.

Truth be told he was a little rattled knowing someone had that type of power. Not much was really known about the Level 5, he had heard that two of them were elementary schoolers, whether it was true or not he never really thought about, but the rest he had no clue about.

"Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is that your Power, **[Imagine Breaker,] **clearly fits both category's. It's an Abnormality due to the fact that while not registering as a power you managed to vaporise a Level 3 Pyrokinetic's fireball, and it's a Exception because it doesn't seem that there is any Science behind your Ability's function." explained Kuroyama. "As a Scientist I am very intrigued by this Power and want to study it, as such, you will be paid accordingly." He was silent a few moments. "I think a Level 2 stipend will be a good starting point."

As the words left the older man's mouth Touma felt like crying. A Level 0's stipend was generally enough to live on if one was frugal, but Touma's bad luck made all the money he gets vanish into thin air. He didn't remember how many times he had to ask his parents for extra money because something bad happened. A Level 2 stipend was a godsend, and it was at that moment Touma realised how sad his life was.

"I'll do it!" and so he agreed. Regardless, as a Student this should be his 'job' as most other's got their earning for the time they spend having tests done so in the end Touma felt like whatever the testing entailed, it was something that everyone else did.

-ACRD-

Academy City had many sites that would cause ordinary people to question their existence. But the denizens of the City were far used to everything, after all weird was the norm in the City of Science. So it wasn't much surprise that no-one living in or going through School District 7 paid attention to why there existed a windowless building. Flat symmetrical walls over a hundred metres tall and glowing a ethereal purple. People also probably don't notice that not only is it in the exact centre of School District 7, but it so happens to be at the centre of Academy City as a whole. The building however, housed what probably amounted to the most impotent person in Academy City.

In to top-most floor, a room bathed in an amber light sat. The ceiling was filled with wires and machinery of varying types and unknown purposes. In the centre of the room was a cylindrical shaped structure that seemed to be made of glass, and in the tube of red liquid not unlike embryonic fluid floated a figure. They looked like an adult, but also a child, their feature's were that of both a man and a woman. Wearing a green hospital gown and sliver hair that seemed to be defying the fact the figure was floating upside down. Their eyelids fluttered open, revealing sea green almost dead looking eyes as a screen opened up in front of them.

"I was wondering when you were going to contact me Shuusuke," the voice seemed to phase into existence, smooth but definitely male, despite the figure's mouth not opening.

"What is it you always say? 'Nothing happens in this City I don't know about?'" Kuroyama asked raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, I figured you would know about the boy's power so I thought it'd be prudent to ask if I can study it?"

The figure was silent a moment, before the voice materialised again.

"...And what is it you hope to achieve with studying the **[Imagine Breaker?]**" the man asked.

"I'm hoping it might allow me to make some headway with the Level 5 studies" Kuroyama explained. "Maybe also shed some light as to why we have so many Level 0's in comparison to any other Level."

Indeed a baffling question.

"...Very well, but be mindful, that boy is someone of consequence." the voice was still flat and inflectionless, but Kuroyama heard the warning all to well.

"I'll be careful" the Professor nodded and the screen he was on vanished.

Silence befell the room before a lifeless chuckle reverberated through the still air.

"Interesting," Aleister Crowley, the General Superintendent of Academy City, thought. The small speck of amusement he felt not heard in his voice or seen on his face. "I had wondered if the boy would attract the attention of any of my Board of Directors, but Shuusuke Kuroyama?" if anybody had been in the room of the man that ran Academy City they would have felt a dark pressure like no other. "I look forward to seeing what you will do under his care **[Imagine Breaker.]**"

-ACRD-

Shuusuke sat at his desk, staring balefully at the remains of a snapped pen gripped tightly in his left hand, blue ink splattered lightly on the desk.

"Every time." He took a deep breath, the tension ebbing away as he tossed the pen remains into a nearby trash-can before going to a sink in the lab, washing the ink off his hand.

He had not long returned from dropping Touma off back at his dorm before returning to report his decision to his direct superior. Aleister Crowley was a man that all the Board Members feared on a primal level. For some it was they way he looked, for others it was the eeriness of the fact that one had to talk to the man while he was upside down in a vat of who knows what. But Shuusuke, he feared the way the man seemed to be like the dead emotionless doll he so happened to resemble. He also hated the fact that he cared little for those around him. To find out that the young lad he met earlier that night was someone that could evoke a warning from a man who otherwise barely acknowledged anyone was something that didn't set well with the old man. Whatever the reason, Shuusuke knew he probably won't find out, either way he had some work to do. Some preliminary Ability tests for Touma tomorrow, something light and easy for the boy's first day at real testing.

"Maybe also an upgrade to his status," Kuroyama thought aloud.

Not all the dormitory's level restrictive, in fact there was one such place not far from the lab, the thing is a Level 0 wouldn't be able to pay the rent. The dormitory that Touma was in right now catered for Level 0's. While by no means unliveable it was essentially two rooms, A single large room that served as the living room, kitchen and bedroom and a bathroom.

Regardless there were still things to do before that. Sitting at the computer in his office, he began typing up a list of basic procedures, his conversation with the General Superintendent aside, he was really looking forward to studying Touma's Ability.

-ACRD-

The next day, Touma had to conclude, was unusual. While the morning went through in a normal fashion. After school finished however was where the difference started. Making his way to Kuroyama's Laboratory, the scientist had him submit to a few different blood exams before running him though a brief A.I.M scanner. An Involuntary Movement Diffusion Field was a subtle 'aura' Esper's gave off that was a by-product caused by their unique Personal Realities, a constant yet unconscious effect on the world around them. Needless to say, Touma didn't have one and that in and of itself was enough for Kuroyama to be shocked. While it's true his results came back marking him as a Level 0 he still should have an A.I.M Diffusion Field just from undergoing the Power Curriculum Program. The Professor then had Touma test his negation on Kazuki.

"So as it stands, if you have a hold of an Esper their powers are nullified." Kuroyama read from a tablet. "Moreover, you totally negate his arcade token's Kinetic charge, rendering it harmless. however, while you remove the Kinetic concussive force from his staff strike, the staff still causes damage to you equal to how hard Kazuki struck due to the staff itself not being an Ability."

"Though, as scrappy as a fighter you are, you still kinda suck," Kazuki commented as Touma rubbed his ribs, the place Kazuki had struck.

"Can't argue there," Touma muttered.

"Hey, wanna add that to what you do here?" Kazuki asked suddenly.

From the side, Kuroyama rose an eyebrow.

"What, learn how to use that thing?" Touma asked motioning to the staff.

"I was thinking fighting in general, but I can teach you how to fight with a staff if you want," shrugged Kazuki.

"Well, knowing my luck, it's probably gonna come in handy" Touma sighed before turning to Kuroyama. "That okay Doc?"

"It's fine." Kuroyama waved the question away. "Considering the way your Ability works I think that studying it in action as you fight might be more beneficial."

It wasn't long until the Professor called it a day, saying Kazuki could leave as well. The two boys headed out of the lab when Touma decided to ask something that had been on his mind since yesterday.

"By the way, what was all that yesterday with the Pyrokinetic?" His question caused Kazuki to raise an eyebrow before sighing.

"Not exactly sure how to explain," the grey eyed boy began. "You see, when it comes to the leadership of Academy City, most of the Board of Directors keep to themselves and their own private dealings." He paused a moment, as if trying to figure out how best to explain. "I'm not sure if you can imagine, but that means there are some pretty hefty stuff that goes on in the City's background." He took a surreptitious look around. "Essentially this background is commonly referred to as the Dark Side of Academy City."

Touma's eyes widened at the rather foreboding term.

"There are a lot of groups that are a part of this Darkness, only a few however exist to stop things from escalating." Taking another look at their surroundings, Kazuki continued. "The Professor on the other hand, he tries to make sure that the Darkness doesn't bleed into the light, shutting down dangerous situations in order to prevent innocent people from being dragged into the Darkness." Touma was having a hard time digesting all of what he was being told.

"What you stumbled upon yesterday, that was an end result of a prior altercation, there were a group of Esper's with ties to some corrupt Military Officials that were selling Military Ordinance to members of a Level 0 terrorist group known as Skill-Out." Kazuki gave a bitter smile. "We fought both sides, the Esper's got away but we got most of Skill-Out."

Touma noticed he didn't sound too proud of it.

"The Pyrokinetic yesterday, he was the leader of the Esper group and as you can probably guess he didn't like the fact we butted in." Kazuki shrugged. "He found out who hired us and tried to take out the Professor directly and that was what you walked in on."

"Seriously, me and my bad luck," Touma moaned out. "Though I guess it could have gone worse."

"No doubt, though I think you could have taken him," Kazuki smirked. "He was one of those idiots that relied solely on his Ability, with your **[Imagine Breaker] **and fighting skill you probably could have knocked him out."

"Yeah, it's that probably that I'm concerned with," Touma groaned before going silent.

They walked for another five minutes before Touma spoke again.

"That's why you want me to learn how to fight, isn't it." His tone wasn't accusatory, to which Kazuki was thankful for.

"Not gonna lie Kamijou, that hand can help a lotta people, I'm sure you're aware of that." The questioned garnered a nod from the spiky haired boy. "And to be honest, I kinda like the thought of having something as powerful as the **[Imagine Breaker] **backing me up," Kzuki stopped, causing Touma to as well. "However, it's your decision whether you help us out on that side, 'cause I can't guarantee safety nor can I say you won't see things that would truly sicken you." Kazuki started walking again, Touma following beside the wispy haired boy. "Think about it, take however long you need."

"Alright," Touma nodded. "I'll give it some thought, thanks for being level with me Shikihiro."

"Heh, what are friends for." Kazuki grinned widely, clapping Touma on the shoulder before the two split up.

Touma realised that this was big, he had always assumed there would be bad things in this City, he ran into a lot of thugs and even had a minor encounter with Skill-Out thanks to his need to help people, but he felt that this was a on a whole new level.

'Regardless,' Touma thought, reaching the apartment complex that was his home. 'This is something I need to think about.'

-TO BE CONTINUED-

**A/N : And there's chapter one.**

**I'll be honest and say that it took me a while to actually finish this. Between not being sure if I wanted my OC's to be as prevalent as well as how I wanted the story to be different from the original.**

**As I said above this is probably my most favourite series and I just got around to watching series 3 recently (which is what got me to get off my arse and finish what I had for this.) I hope that you all enjoy it.**

**Feel free to review and I'll gladly take any opinions and comments anyone has to offer.**

**Peace out.**

**willdraco1987. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : An here's chapter 2, I would have had it out faster but I've been mainlining New Testament for the last few days. Plus I had to try and find a translated map of Academy city and the details of what's in each District but without further ado...**

**Disclaimer : I don't own A Certain Magical Index or anything else that may cross**

**-ACRD-**

**Chapter 2: A Further Conflict – Into_Darkness_STEP_1**

Two weeks, that was how much time had passed since the unfortunate Touma Kamijou had met with the Board of Directors Member Shuusuke Kuroyama. In that two weeks Touma had undergone quiet a few regular tests, including a few times using a Testament with heavy monitoring of his neuro-activity. All of which resulted in the same thing. Touma was a Level 0, had no A.I.M Diffusion Field and his **[Imagine Breaker] **was not registering as an Ability. It was something Touma had thought would frustrate the Professor, but instead only seemed to make him more interested.

Of course, the tests weren't the only thing Touma had been doing. True to his word, Kazuki had been teaching him to fight. While also being monitored and asked to perform specific tasks, Kazuki had managed to get Touma's already decent street fighting abilities to a level where he could actual call himself a fighter. The unfortunate boy also found that he was pretty handy with a staff, Kazuki had given him one of his spares and Touma had surprisingly took to it pretty fast. Not that he had any great skill but Kazuki was confident enough that it'll only take Touma a year or so before he was proficient in the skill.

On the topic of the 'other' side of Kuroyama's work, Touma had sat down with the older man and discussed the issue at length. Shuusuke had assumed that Kazuki would have informed Touma about that side, especially when he offered the **[Imagine Breaker] **wielder to learn how to fight better, so when Touma came the next day and asked about it Kuroyama told him exactly what it was he did.

"It's not too different from what Kazuki explained," the Professor had said. "I try to keep the Dark Side of Academy City from effecting the light as best I can," he gave a light pause. "This grants me a small bit of leeway with the more darker denizens of the Darkness because I don't go too deep into the City's Darkness."

"So you're saying that there's worse things out there?" Touma had asked.

"Oh of course," Kuroyama's voice became baleful. "This City has a lot of dark and twisted things going on, but the powers that be prevent them from being stopped."

It was a conversation that left a sour taste in Touma's mouth but he had no choice but to accept it. Kuroyama does what he can without painting too large target on his back, and Touma felt that not even his position as one of the Board of Directors would protect him if one of the truly dark parts of the City came calling.

In lue of that, Touma was also introduced to another Esper that worked under Kuroyama. Setsuna Nagashi, she was a girl slightly older then Touma and Kazuki, already in her first year of middle school. She had black hair that was tied into a side ponytail that fanned off to her right of her head and pale skin, her dark, almost black eyes were narrow and she wore a typical female school sailor uniform, but a black skirt instead of blue.

She worked with Kazuki on missions, having been the senior member of the two, it also surprised Touma that she was a Level 4. Her Ability was was called **[Wind Collect**] and allowed her to manipulate wind pressure. Applying it to her hands created a blunt burst of wind that had a concussive effect.

Touma sighed as he stepped out of the Lab, attached to his hip was a holster for his staff, similar to the one Kazuki had. At first he wasn't really sure about carrying the staff around outside the Lab, but Kazuki and the Professor convinced him that it was better to have it on him, Kuroyama going as far as citing his bad luck as a good reason, one Touma couldn't refute. He continued walking for ten minutes before his commute home ended rather abruptly.

"Out of the way." It was just as he walked passed the mouth of an alleyway that a figure darted passed him, running across the street and into the adjacent alleyway, Touma only being able to register blonde hair before being shoved harshly to the ground by a second figure.

"Get the bitch." Touma registered the voice yelling as he saw three male figures running into the adjacent alleyway.

"Such misfortune," his baleful grumble belied his action as he sprung to his feet and gave chase.

-ACRD-

Frenda Seivelun was not having a good day.

The mission her boss of so graciously bequeathed onto her was setting up a surveillance system on a warehouse, she cursed her rather extensive knowledge when it came to espionage as it almost always lead her to being thrown into the lions den first during missions, and she had only started working for them three months ago.

'Basically, I feel exploited.' her lament was really the only thing she could do as three thugs trailed behind.

Five, she had already killed (at least she was sure she did) five of them, but the other three took her by surprise. One of them had a rather annoying Ability which could raise the earth, making an effective shield and rendering her missiles useless.

'I can already hear Mugino chewing me out about carelessness and overconfidence,' she shivered at the thought.

She wasn't stupid, she knew she had faults in those areas but seriously? Who could blame her when the majority of the trash she had been sent up against so far were weak.

"And then I end up facing a Level freaking 4 bastard that controls the ground" despite running, she still managed a pout, taking a sharp left up an alleyway.

She took a look back.

'Yep, still there,' she lamented again. 'Basically, please give up.'

She was momentarily startled when someone stepped into the path of the alley.

"Out of the way." Without taking in the unfortunate schmuck that happened to walk by, she deftly brushed passed him, crossed the street and into another alley.

She had to get clear, or at least somewhere that earth bastard could see her so she could get a pot shot on him, a few more turns and maybe she'd be able to work with something.

...Or she could run into a dead end.

"Basically, fuck me," she cursed in annoyance as she heard the thugs arrive behind her.

"Heh, you're too young for my taste brat," the earth thug spoke with a grin, hearing her curse. "But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna torture you for information."

'You know, can't say I like either scenarios' Frenda desperately looked left and right for a way out.

"Heh, it's cute that you think you can still find a way out, but sorry to say, no ones gonna save your ass." the earth thug smirked.

Frenda didn't need to be told that, she lived in the Dark Side of Academy City since she was picked up at a School District 13 orphanage with her little sister, it was all she could do to keep herself alive and her sister out of the Darkness. She knew all too well that there wasn't such a thing as a Hero.

A dull thud filled the air suddenly, so much so it took a few moments for it, and a subsequent sound of something heavy collapsing to the ground for all denizens of the alley to register it and turn around accordingly.

One of the thugs, who was standing furthest back was now unconscious on the ground and a spiky haired boy stood over the body, a staff, a metre and a half in length gripped in his hands.

"You know, it's not polite to gang up on a girl," the boy spoke with a serious look.

"... Okay so a Hero did show up" a scowl appeared on the earth thugs face. "Get him."

The second thug ran forward at the boy.

Frenda, her back against the alley wall was having a hard time believing what she was seeing. It was surprising enough that someone actually decided to jump needlessly into trouble that had nothing to do with them but this guy... he kinda sucked.

Being used to a manner of close combat weapons she could easily tell that this guy wasn't exactly familiar with the staff. His blocks and parry's were amateur at best and was only holding up because the moron he was fighting wasn't a paragon of hand to hand either.

'Basically, this feels embarrassing,' she thought bitterly.

-acrd-

Touma felt stupid, very incredibly stupid. Of all the reactions to have when someone was being chased, why was his default to run after them. Surely calling the authorities would be a better choice but no matter how often this happened his first response is to jump head long into a fight. He got the first guy with what was for all intents and purposes a sucker punch and now he was barely staving off the second thug with his mediocre staff technique. Well he was until the guy managed to knock his staff out of his hands.

"No so tough now are ya," the thug smirked in victory.

"Didn't say I was, though you guys aren't setting up a precedence," Touma commented blandly.

"The hell you say?" the thug asked before pulling what looked to be a clay block out of his pocket. "I may not have a high Level, but I'll still put a hole in your punk ass." The clay seemed to shift before assuming the form of a knife.

He lunged forward quickly, Touma brought his right hand up and made contact with the knife and with the sound of shattering glass, the knife broke apart. It went largely unnoticed as the earth thug had his attention solely on Frenda who was the larger threat. Frenda on the other hand noticed immediately and quirked an eyebrow, wondering why the clay knife just fell apart.

'Did he loose control of his Ability?' she questioned as the boy drove his left fist into the thugs face with a sickening crack. 'Huh? Broke the bastards nose, maybe he's not so useless.'

She immediately cursed her lack of attention when her arms were suddenly cuffed to the wall by earth shackles that dug into the wall behind her.

"Basically, what the hell?" she asked in a screech.

"Heh, you like? I pre-made them for when I don't want people running away," the earth thug smirked. "Now stay right there while I deal with this idiot."

Touma turned his attention from the downed thug to the final thug, noticing the girl they were chasing was cuffed to a wall. She was wearing a black sailor top and a pleated skirt. She had a pair of pumps on her feet and dark-coloured pantihose. A dark-coloured beret sat over her blonde hair, she also looked to be around his age.

"Seriously, chaining a girl to a wall?" Touma rose an eyebrow at the thug.

"Can it brat, she's way more dangerous then you are, she already killed some of my guys," growled the thug.

That caught Touma's attention, but he decided to question that later.

"Any chance you'd let her go quietly?" Touma asked again, almost pleading.

"Seriously? You took down two of my guys and now you're pleading?" the thug let out a laugh. "Brat, you're not leaving this alley alive."

In that instant, Touma dove to the left as chunks of the ground exploded upwards, barely dodging them.

Frenda rose an eyebrow, the boy had some pretty decent dodging skills, the way he moved without that staff was far more skilful, most of it she could tell was instinctive more then any actual training. The weird thing was that training was there, just not a whole lot.

'Why did he start with the staff when he was better with his fists?' Frenda couldn't help letting out a small giggle at the frustrated yell the thug let loose because he couldn't hit the boy.

"Freaking god damn it, stay still," the thug raged as several chunks sailed forth.

Touma, who was running almost on empty, notice a point where there was a gap in the rocks. Bolting forward, he took one of the rocks to the left arm, winching as he felt a sharp pain in the shoulder he continued forward.

"God damn you, you brat." With a final roar, the thug unleashed a wave of earth, one that had Touma smirking.

"You know the bad thing about attacks like that." Frenda rose an eyebrow at how confidant he sounded. "They block your view."

With the sound of shattering glass, the wave of earth vanished quicker then a blink of an eye as the boy's outstretched right fist made contact with the thugs face with the force Frenda was sure even Mugino would be impressed with.

The thug was in a state of shock, one minute his wave of earth was going toward his opponent, the next it had completely vanished and the brat's fist was driving hard into his face, sending him flying backwards.

"Did... did my Ability mess up?" he mumbled as he passed out, back first on the ground.

Touma straightened himself up before wincing at the pain in his left shoulder. He may not have broken it but he felt he may have fractured it.

Turning his attention to the girl, he began walking over.

Frenda was in a state of shock, did that guy just... punch through a wall of earth. Those walls that bastard made were durable enough that her explosives were freaking useless against them, But this guy? With a single fist?

"Are you okay Miss?" Frenda 's momentary breakdown at the shear impossible nature of what she just witnessed was halted by the boy as he touched the earth shackles, both vaporising upon contact with his right hand and freeing her.

"Err, yeah... um" she mumbled out, before blushing red. "B...Basically I... I didn't need your help."

She couldn't accept that she just had her ass saved by this random guy with crappy fighting abilities.

Touma was silent a moment, before remembering the comment the thug made about her killing his men.

'They must both be from the Dark Side' Touma thought.

"Who the hell are you anyways?" Frenda glared at the boy in suspicion. "Basically, no one just jumps into a situation that hasn't got anything to do with them."

"Huh? Oh I kinda wasn't thinking," Touma chose to ignore the thug's comment for the time being. "When I saw you run pass, followed by those guys I just... followed as well."

Frenda couldn't believe it, she just honestly could not believe it. What sort of person just follows something like that? There isn't anyone in the world who would be a stupid as that. But taking in the sheepish grin on his face Frenda realised.

"Basically, you're telling the truth aren't you?" she let out a sound between a huff and a groan at the shear absurdity of the boy in front of her. "Do you even know the half of what you just walked into?"

"Well not the exact situation..." Touma paused, but decided that it was probably better to tell the truth. "The only thing I know right now is that you and them must be part of the Dark Side of Academy City."

This set Frenda on edge, but not for the same reasoning as it usually did. Normally it either meant she was face to face with another person from the Darkness or she was in front of an Anti-Skill Agent. He wasn't neither and that was what was making her even more edgy.

"If you're worried I'd turn you in don't worry" Touma continued, not realising the girl's inner turmoil. "You can get out of here and I'll make an anonymous tip to Anti-Skill to pick these guys up."

This made her thoughts pause, he was gonna let her go?

"Wait," she said, getting the boys attention. "Basically, you heard what that guy said, I killed people, yet your still letting me go?"

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't but... I don't know the your whole situation and I know enough about the Darkness not to ask," Touma shrugged. "And I'd rather not fight you considering I think you'd probably be able to kill me."

"Got that right," Frenda spoke imperiously. "Basically, you'd stand no chance... though I don't like how casually you admitted it."

With that said, she began to walk out of the alley. She had to beat down the urge to blow up the three thugs on the ground, but she knew the boy who helped her would try and stop her and while she knew she could take him out as well, she found she didn't want to.

She stopped at the alley intersection for a moment.

"Basically, thanks." She had no idea why she said it, it wasn't like her to be thankful but for some reason, the words just came out. She then took off running around the alley corner, trying to shake the redness on her cheeks.

Touma watched her go and sighed the moment she disappeared from sight. He was kind of surprised by the muttered 'thanks' the girl said before running off. Plus he was also glad she didn't try to kill the thugs. He knew himself well enough that he'd try and stop her, but he didn't really want to fight her, he didn't want to die that badly.

'Plus, I'd rather not fight a cute girl,' the errant thought brushed by his mind and he almost chocked. 'Seriously, not the time.'

As he took out his phone to call Anti-Skill, he stopped before going over to the earth using thug and emptying his pockets, finding a phone and a USB drive. He didn't know what made him think of doing it, normally he'd leave it to Anti-Skill but this time...

'I'll give them to the Doc.' Touma thought, leaving the alleyway and heading back towards the Lab, sending the anonymous tip to Anti-Skill via a nearby payphone.

-ACRD-

The Dark Side of Academy City had many faces, associations and groups. Many of the groups carry out their own goal and agenda's heedless of the harm they do others while only a select few exist for the sake of maintaining balance, not for the sake of other's, but to make sure no one group within the Darkness gain too much power. A premier example of a group that falls into this category is ITEM, who's mandate is to prevent the upper classes, including the Board of Directors from getting out of hand with their power-plays against each other. It had only been established a few months prior and only consisted of two individuals. In one of the many Private Salon's in School District 3 was where the intrepid alleyway escapist Frenda Seivelun was sitting in a seiza position in front of an imposing, if beautiful girl older then her. She had soft tea coloured hair and was wearing what appeared to be a a black coloured sailor top with red accents and a black skirt, black leggings over her slender legs and brown boots that went up to her her mid calf.

"Basically, would it help to apologise?" Frenda asked hopefully.

Eye twitching, the girl let out a growl before turning heel and sitting heavily on the couch in the rather large sitting room.

"You're lucky that your stunt didn't reveal who you were," the girl spoke between clenched teeth.

It was a small mercy, but in all honest Frenda didn't screw up to big.

Shizuri Mugino let out a suffering sigh as she looked over a laptop, before Frenda dropped the ball and ended up getting chased around Academy City, she at least got the surveillance data. The leader of ITEM was more then content her intimidation act put the fear of god into the blonde idiot, what made it more annoying was the fact Mugino knew Frenda was better then that considering she saw to most of the girls training when they met a few years ago, but for some reason she always stuffed up due to complacency or underestimating a situation. Either way she at least managed to complete the mission and get out without her identity being found out.

"By the way..." Shizuri spoke again, almost smirking at how quickly Frenda's relieved face turned back to trepidation. "How did you manage to get away anyway?"

Mugino knew that while capable, Frenda was up against an opponent that essentially nullified all her advantages and if he had two others then she was curious on how the blonde escaped.

What surprised her was the myriad of emotions that spread across Frenda's face, anger, annoyance, relief... happiness before she settled on scowling a little.

"That's the thing..." and so the beret wearing girl told Shizuri of the whole fight between the mysterious boy and the three thugs.

"Basically, he sucked at fighting," she finished. "But then he just... punched through that earth bastards attack and it just vanished."

"Vanished" Mugino echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I heard this... glass shattering sound and the wave of earth was just... cancelled out." Frenda was having a hard time believing what she saw. "Almost like he negated it."

This caused the tea haired girl's eyebrow to arch at the rather unbelievable tale.

"Basically... I didn't think to ask him about it, even though he told me he wouldn't hand me over to Anti-skill" Frenda winced admitting this. "I just wanted to get out of there so I never got his name either."

Whatever verbal or more likely physical reprimand she was expecting didn't come. While Shizuri smirked a little at Frenda's flinch she actually thought the blonde used her head in that situation, if only a little. Still, an Ability that allows one to negate Esper Power's, it was something she had never heard of, or even thought possible. She felt her interest stir at the thought of this boy and after getting the description of his from Frenda, made a mental note to keep an eye out for him.

That however, was for another day, right now she had research to do with the surveillance Frenda brought beck.

-ACRD-

Kuroyama wasn't sure whether to be impressed with how bad Touma's luck was, or be worried. He wouldn't say that the situation wasn't entirely unexpected but the fact the boy actually brought back his adversary's phone and a USB stick wasn't what he had expected. The fact the boy did this with a near fractured arm was even more surprising. Luckily enough it wasn't actually fractured and a few days rest would be all he would need but Kuroyama couldn't help but wince at the thought of if the rock had struck his head.

Regardless, what the boy did was something Kuroyama had long since realised was just his instinctual reaction and part of the reason he was glad Kazuki was training him. Onto the topic of what Touma had brought him however, it was information pertaining to the group of Esper's they had dealt with two weeks ago. Meaning that the group was stilling carrying on their plans despite their leader being incarcerated.

"I'll take a few days to decide what our next move will be," Kuroyama spoke to Kazuki and Setsuna after he sent Touma home.

"You think Kamijou's gonna sit this out?" Kazuki questioned.

"Probably not, the boy would probably want to help, even though he hasn't given an answer to you," Kuroyama smiled.

"Will you accept his help though?" Setsuna asked. "I mean, his not like Kazuki and I, we've both had a few years of training under our belt."

"No, but he makes up for it in his reasons." The Professor and pony-tailed girl turned to the black haired boy with raised eyebrows. "That being he does what he does for no reason other then someone needs help."

Silence befell the room before Kuroyama let out a mirthful chuckle.

"So very true, makes the rest of us seem selfish by comparison," he replied.

Setsuna watched the two, not fully understanding what they meant because she hadn't had much interaction with the new boy so she felt like she was being left out of an inside joke.

-ACRD-

It was a few days later that had Kazuki walk out of the Lab, ready to go through with the plan the Professor had come up with. There were two target in all, an abandoned apartment building and a warehouse, though it had an administration building that was apparently unattached, both of which were at opposite ends of School District 10. Kazuki had volunteered to take the warehouse and admin building while leaving the apartment complex to Setsuna because her Ability was more suited to closed space combat. They hadn't heard from Touma in a few days so Kazuki wasn't as surprised as he should have been to see the spiky haired boy waiting outside the Lab.

"So your going out today?" Touma asked needlessly.

"Yep, take it you wanna come with?" Kazuki smirked in return.

"I'd be lying if I said I want to jump headlong into danger..." Touma began. "But I was the one who brought that stuff to the Doc, and it won't feel right if only you guys get put in danger because of it." Touma took a deep breath. "I want to help."

"Alright, but you know the type of danger you're gonna be in right?" Kazuki asked.

"Probably a lot," shrugged Touma. "But you guys might need some help and I don't want to sit back and do nothing if I can do something."

"Heh, good answer." A car pulled up alongside them and Kazuki opened the door. "We're taking this car to an abandoned warehouse in School District 10, not far from here."

That was true, Touma figured, Kuroyama's lab was in School District 18 so it wouldn't take long to get there considering District 18 boarders District 10 to the south.

The ride over was silent for the most part, Touma noticed that the car seemed to have a partition between the front and back, a blacked out window preventing the view of the driver.

"Just because we're on he boarders of the Darkness doesn't mean we just outsource from the light," Kazuki answered Touma's unspoken question. "We use some of the more 'suspect' transportation methods because they don't ask questions and won't talk if something goes down."

It didn't sit well with Touma, but he was beginning to understand that you couldn't walk around the Dark Side of Academy City without precautions.

They arrived at their destination in short order, a chime sounded and Touma turned to Kazuki who took his phone out of his pocket and nodded.

"Nagashi's already at her position, anything you wanna ask before we go in?" Kazuki asked, stowing his phone.

"Two things actually," Touma spoke. "First is why are we doing this in the day? This strikes me more as something that should be done at night."

"That's a fair question," Kazuki nodded. "First and foremost is that we don't want to wait too long to act, that guy you took out the other night wouldn't have turned up so the other members of the group might get suspicious, as for the other reason, District 10 isn't exactly one of the most popular Districts, with the urban decline and several defunct Labs and facilities the place doesn't get much Anti-Skill or Judgement oversight either. The security is also lacking so most of the residents here are thugs and other ne'er-do-wells so anything shady pretty much gets overlooked."

"I can see that," Touma muttered, he already knew most of what was said about District 10 but he never had a cause for coming here. "Anyway, my second question is what exactly am I looking for?"

"Don't really know," Kazuki frowned. "Were were only able to get the locations from the phone. The USB was encrypted by some pretty serious hardware, the Professor's taking a while to crack it." Thinking about it for a few seconds, Kazuki turned to Touma. "I'll take the admin building, you take the warehouse, look for anything that might have some connection to those guys."

Giving an unsure nod, Touma set off in the direction of the warehouse while Kazuki went towards the administration building.

Deciding it would be better to go through an entrance rather then the warehouses front doors, Touma circled around and found a back entrance which wasn't locked. Cautiously entering he looked around.

He appeared to be in a small office area, a door going off toward the front he assumed lead to the warehouse proper while another door to the left lead to what looked like a metal staircase.

"Great, a second floor," Touma muttered to himself before opening the door to the warehouse proper.

The room was large, but most importantly mostly empty. There were a few machines about, all of which with white tarps draped over them, the smell of oil was prevalent. Walking over to a tarp covered bench he pulled the tarp back and was surprised by what he saw.

It looked like an unassuming collection of springs, screws and metal pieces, but he recognised some of the larger cylindrical pieces.

"Those are rifle barrels, then that means the rest are..." He never got a chance to finish his thought before he was struck in the side by a powerful force. 'Wind?'

His back slammed into one of the machines and he felt a blunt pain before scrambling to his feet.

"You know, I came here to finish grabbing the last of the shit we left here," a voice spoke from above Touma. "I honestly wasn't expecting a rat, Tsuchimi really dropped the ball the other night."

Standing on a platform that overlooked the first floor was a guy around eighteen. He had haphazard, windswept brown hair and hazel eyes, he was wearing a tattered black shirt and blue jeans that had holes on the knees. He jumped down and smirked.

"Don't know why you're here brat, but you not leaving alive," he grinned maliciously.

Touma barely had time to dodge to the side as a blade of wind sliced toward him, ripping the machine he was just in front of in two.

"Huh? Nimble little prick aren't you," the wind user scoffed. "Don't matter though, you won't be able to dodge my **[Vacuum Slicer] **for long."

Dodging several move blasts of air Touma groaned.

'He's right, any one of those attacks could take my head off.' He rolled out of the way of another slice only to notice the wind gather at the wind thugs feet before propelling him forward, a funnel of wind forming his his left hand as he raised his arm.  
'A freaking wind sword?' Touma barely had enough time to raise his right hand and the blade of wind vanished with the sound of shattering glass.

"What the hell?" the thug barely managed to get out before being hit in the jaw with an uppercut, sending him into the air.

Normally that would be the end of it but Touma's left arm lacked a portion of strength owing to the injury the other night, so the thug, still concious, flipped around and blasted himself back up to his prior perch.

"What the fuck was that?" the thug asked, looking down at his hand. "That was a blade of wind made by a Level 4, it doesn't just stop working." He sent a death glare towards Touma. "What did you do brat? That wasn't normal."

Touma cursed lightly, most of his fights usually ended with him being able to capitalise on the shock his opponents have when he cancels their Ability, but this guy managed to weather his uppercut and placed himself in a position Touma couldn't reach. It was painfully obvious to the misfortunate boy that this wasn't an opponent that was going to be easily defeated.

The thugs mind was working a mile a minute, as a Level 4 one has to keep up with an advance level of calculative formulas in order to manipulate one's Personal Reality. The thing is, if someone works hard enough to reach Level 4 then a lot of the base level calculations are so ingrained they become second nature, making it easier to formulate the tougher equations. It was how he knew, despite the punch to the jaw, that he didn't stuff up on his calculations. His attack was stopped by an outside source.

"Tch, so you must have an Ability to manipulate wind and air currents as well." his tongue clicking in disgust, he glared down at Touma. "I hate fighting other's who have an Ability similar to mine, now I have to reform my calculations."

A deadly smirk spread across his face and Touma only had a split second to dodge as four strikes smashed into where he was standing.

"I fought air and wind manipulators before, so I realise my base calculations and theirs are mostly identical." This time six blasts carved up the ground tripping the spiky haired boy. "But the one thing I came to realise is that most can't control as many wind variables as I can." eight blasts this time, the boys back slamming hard against the far wall.

Two vacuums, like miniature tornado funnel's, formed either side of Touma, boxing him in.

"Tell me fellow wind user?" The thug grinned in a smug manner. "Can you control twenty wind vectors?"

It was a dumb question, because poor Touma Kamijou couldn't control twenty wind vectors, he couldn't control wind at all. This guy was under a severe misunderstanding that Touma might have found mildly amusing if it weren't for the fact he was about to be carved up into little pieces.

"Time to die brat!" However, before the thug had a chance to strike, a small explosion to the side knocked him off kilter.

"Damn it" a second later a female voice called out. "I should have taken the administrative building intsead..."

From out of the smoke that used to be a wall to an outside scaffold fire escape a girl walked. She had soft tea coloured hair that went passed her shoulders and a face that, while still blooming, already would put any other girl her age to shame. Wearing what seemed to be a rather fashionable beige coloured shirt-dress, white coloured leggings and designer loafers the girl was momentarily surprised, her eyes finding the thug, before she searched the room and saw the boy.

"Oh, so this is where the party is," she smirked, and while it did look bewitching, it also had a darkness behind it.

"What the fuck? I had enough of an annoyance with one brat, but another..." the thug trailed off looking the girl up and down. "Huh? At least you look better then the other brat, maybe you'll be more fun," he smirked lasciviously toward the girl. "Be a good little girl and wait while I kill this first brat, then I'll play with you all you want."

The girl rose an eyebrow at the words that came from the thugs mouth, before a smirk formed on her lips.

"Oh really? Well I'm sorry to say I don't like waiting, besides, I highly doubt your _equipped_ to show any girl a fun time." The words had an instant effect and the thug glared at the girl.

"The fuck you say? You got a mouth on you don't you, guess I'll just take you out first." A burst of wind blasted around his feet, sending his up into the air, before firing another vortex straight at the girl.

As the thug made the first move, the girl smirk as five small balls of green light came to life around her head. As the thug fired the second vortex, these five balls sudden became beams, beams of pure energy the blasted apart the incoming vortex and struck the thug.

Touma watched the scene in a whirlwind of emotion. Shock when the girl had first appeared from an explosion of all things, disgust at what the thug said to the girl, amusement at the girls comeback, worried that the thug was incensed and attacked her, fascinated by the balls of energy the girl emitted, amazement at how they turned into beams that tore through the thugs wind vortex and then horror at what those beams did to the thug.

When Touma had decided to help Kazuki out with this job, he was expecting a fair bit of blood and injury, mostly his on account of his own shear lack of offensive power and general misfortune. But what he was not expecting, was the amount of gore that came from when those beams struck the thugs body.

It exploded.

No other word could describe the thugs body being separated in five pieces and some of those pieces imploding from what seemed to be a sudden increase of heat. Blood and meat chunks rained down over the warehouse and Touma was surprised by the fact none of the gore actually reached him. He also idly noticed the with funnels were gone on account of their owner now decorating a decent portion of the warehouse walls and floor.

The girl, seemingly happy with her job, then turned to the other presence in the room. Touma felt her eyes upon him and tore his eyes away from the carnage that was once a living person to meet her eyes with his own. She looked pensive for a moment before a looked of what seemed to be recognition lit up in her eyes which confused Touma on account of having never met the girl before. He was slightly taken aback by the smile that crossed her lips before he shivered as he noticed the look in her eyes. They were the look of a cat that had just found her favourite mouse.

"Only three days and I ended up running into you," she spoke in a voice oozing with sadism. "If you're here then that means you at least have something to do with _our side_."

Touma didn't need to question what she meant by '_our side_.' the fact she was so calm after she had effective turned a person to almost blood mist was a clear indicator that he was dealing with a member of the Dark Side of Academy City.

"You saved a colleague of mine the other night." As she said this, the face of the cute blonde foreigner popped into his mind, he quickly realised this might be her boss. "As much as it was her fault she was in that situation and complete dumb luck you happened to show up at the right time, I suppose I should say thank you. Good help is hard to find and I've spent a good few years training her."

Touma was unsure where she was going with this, but soon got his answer.

"She said something that interested me." Touma gulped at the spark of interest in her eyes. "She said the thug you fought, you negated his attack?"

It wasn't a question, Touma knew that, she was only confirming what she knew so Touma just nodded.

"I see," the tea haired girl spoke in a conversational tone. "I must say, I've seen a lot of Esper power's over the years, but this is a first that negation has ever shown up on my radar. Tell me, what Level are you?"

For some reason, Touma knew his answer was going to cause trouble.

"I'm just a Level 0." He almost flinched at the girls sudden scowl.

"What the fuck?" She spat out. "Level 0? With an Ability like that? There's no way."

"It's true, my power can't be affected by the System Scans so I'm officially a Level 0," Touma hoped she wasn't going to try to kill him.

She seemed to think about the situation for a bit before smirking in a devilish manner.

"If that's so, how about a test?" she asked, leaning over the rail that was around the risen platform she was on.

"A... Test?" Touma muttered wearily.

"Yep," she smirked wider, before she smiled in an almost psychotic manner. "Try not to die."

The way she lightly said those words didn't match the fact that as she said them, a fist size ball of green appeared in front of her face and fired towards Touma.

His hand was already moving when he saw the ball, of course her test was to fire her freaking Ability at him, the same Ability that had only just reduced another human to a bunch of bloody chunks and fine blood smears. The green beam smashed into his right and and for a brief moment he could feel the heat it generated before it disappeared from existence with the sound of shattering glass.

The girl was amazed, the boy had taken her attack with full force and was still alive.

"She was right," a maniac grin spread across her lips. "What an interesting power you have."

"The hell was that, you could have killed me," Touma shouted incredulously, only causing the girl to smirk sadistically.

"But I didn't," she said simply. "And you should be proud because you just negated the highest output attack Academy City has to offer."

"Highest... Output?" Touma suddenly had a very bed feeling.

"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself," the girl leapt down from the scaffold and landed deafly on the ground floor before straightening up. "My name is Shizuri Mugino, and what you just so effortlessly negated was an Ability named Meltdowner." The name rung a bell, how could it not. "I am the Number 3 Level 5 of Academy City."

And so Touma could only mumble the one thing that summed up this entire situation.

"Such Misfortune."

-TO BE CONTINUED-

**A/N : And there you have it, Touma's luck at it's finest. Saving poor Frenda from thugs only to then help out the professor and meet with Meltdowner herself. I was tossing and turning on who I wanted Touma to meet first, but I figured that because my story was going to feature him actually delving into the Dark Side of Academy City in order to help people it only made sense for it to be Shizuri. The hardest thing was trying to decide whether I needed to scale her back a bit considering she's only in middle school and has only been doing these jobs for a few years (ITEM only having not long started up.) **

**On account of her being Number 3, I figure that because this is three years previous to Canon then Mikoto, while still being a Level 5 was still in the area of testing what her full capabilities are. I considered Accelerator being lower as well but I figured that when he reached Level 5 he would have went directly to the first spot.**

**Also, I want to address a review from a guest who made the statement that three years prior to canon there wasn't 7 Level 5's. You may be right, but I couldn't find anything in regards to an order of who was Level 5 and when, so I just had all of them there. We know that Mikoto was at least Level 5 in her first year of Middle School along with Misaki but that was all I was really able to confirm. Sorry if anyone has a problem with this.**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter (and thinking back, I think that's the most goriest scene I've written thus far.) As always, reviews and comments are welcome.**

**Peace out.**

**willdraco1987. **

-ACRD-


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